Playing team sports can help accelerate business growth, with women entrepreneurs who frequently play sport more than twice as likely to report that their company has grown over the past two years (28% vs 12%), according to new research commissioned by Visa, sponsor of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. Almost three-quarters (73%) of women who participate in team sports say it has had a positive impact on their business. In fact, entrepreneurs who participate in team sports regularly are more likely to run bigger businesses, with those surveyed being three times more likely to have over 10 employees (54% v 19%) and report a turnover of more than £2 million a year (34% v 10%).
As the first-ever UEFA sponsor dedicated to women's football, Visa’s ‘Women thriving, on and off the pitch’ report underscores its commitment to elevating the game while driving excellence, equality and inclusion for women across the whole economy. As the nation gears up to host Europe’s most-watched women’s football tournament, Visa is shining a spotlight on how the transferable skills learnt by playing team sports can help women business owners reach their full potential.
Many of the barriers that hold women and girls back in sport are many of the same as those holding back women economically. Advancing women entrepreneurs could give a £4 trillion boost to the global economy, with Visa’s research uncovering which skills learnt on the pitch can also help women to thrive off it.
When it comes to how sport benefits the business world, Visa’s research finds the top transferable skills to be stress management (34%), mental resilience (34%) and decision making (33%). Women who play team sports may also be more comfortable relying on their personal networks for support, with those respondents saying they are more likely to:
- Prioritise business mentoring and advice (51% v 33%)
- Ask for help in busy periods (50% vs 38%)
- Say a personal network is very important in running a business (71% vs 60%)
- Focus on their mental and emotional health (57% vs 47%)
Self-confidence is widely believed to be one of the biggest barriers to women’s progress, however Visa’s research shows how, by playing team sports, women entrepreneurs learn skills and develop personal networks that boost their confidence and bolster their leadership. It shows that women who play team sports are less likely to cite self-confidence as a business challenge (32% vs 21%) and more likely to feel that they are good leaders (81% v 68%).
Mandy Lamb, Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Visa, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and 2022 has seen a record number of women starting up on their own. At Visa, we’re proud to be the first-ever standalone sponsor of UEFA Women’s Football and to play our part in championing diversity and inclusion, both on and off the pitch. We’re using our sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022™ to shine a spotlight on how skills learned in sports are having a positive impact on the success of small businesses and the wider economy.”
As part of Visa’s commitment to digitally enable 8 million small businesses in Europe, it’s putting small business owners centre-stage, to highlight the important role they play in powering our communities and economies. Supporting this, Visa is launching a series of ‘Team Talks’ [link to YouTube] featuring leading professionals in women’s football and female entrepreneurs, to kickstart an open conversation about the secret to their success and the transferable skills that help them thrive when running their business.
Visa also supports female players through The Second Half, a career development programme helping women plan for their careers beyond the football pitch.
Karen Carney MBE, co-creator of the initiative and former England footballer, said: “The biggest eye-opener for me working with Visa on The Second Half programme was how transferrable skills from sport can be. The ability to work in teams, to be adaptable, resilient, hard-working – the list could go on – but these are all things you learn in sport that don’t just get left behind when you stop playing. We want to help female players realise that these skills matter in the business world too, and they are highly desirable.”
